Newborn Photos with 17-day-old Ellia

After a dramatic arrival by emergency c-section, Ellia was born, weighing an impressive 9 lbs and 1 oz. She was 11 days overdue, which meant Caroline had more maternity leave before the baby’s arrival than she anticipated.

She spent this time organising and doing everything that could be ticked off her to-do lis, from chasing up snagging repairs to booking in Astroturf for the garden.

Now all that’s sorted, it’s left her free to spend her days falling in love with Ellia over and over again. Caroline felt a wave of love (and relief!) as soon as she saw Ellia for the first time, and that bond has only strengthened since.

Chace is great at easing Ellia off to sleep. She seems to be best soothed by movement, so his technique is to walk around the house with her until she eventually nods off.

During their newborn shoot with me, the proud parents told me Chace will be the disciplinarian, while Caroline is the soft one who will spoil Ellia. I think Chace is just as soft really, though, after hearing that he shed a tear (or two) when he met his daughter for the first time.

Caroline’s dad was just as emotional. The family could see his eyes welling as he held Ellia for the first time, spilling over into tears despite his efforts to hold them back.

The new parents decided to take 10 days to recover from the birth and adjust to newborn life. To appease the grandparents, they sent daily images. Now, if Chase doesn’t send a picture by midday, the grandparents start asking what’s causing the delay.

The couple have to be a little more selective over which moments to capture, however, as they are quickly running out of memory on their phones, thanks to the volume of images and video they’ve captured already in these first three weeks. 🙂

In fact, the grandparents were so keen to meet the new member of their family that they already knew when the parents-to-be had gone into hospital. The family have the ‘Find My Friends’ app, and saw that Caroline and Chace had gone into the JR (despite them arriving there at 1am!). Then, it was an anxious wait to hear about baby’s safe arrival.

Since then, the grandparents been showing their support in a practical way, bringing frozen food over or cooking for the couple when visiting them. As new parents know, there’s little time to even shower or pop to the loo when you’ve got a baby, let alone cook nutritious, sustaining food every day for yourself.

Chace loves Ellia’s eyes, which are currently a deep blue. Each day they look a little lighter, and Caroline can’t wait to see if Ellia inherits her mum’s green eyes, or if they turn hazel like her dad’s. She’s certainly got Chace’s hair – his was thick at birth, too – while Ellia’s nose and mouth take after her mum.

They both love her expressions, going from a windy smile to a serious frown within mere seconds. We were incredibly fortunate to capture one of those smiles with some lucky timing here:

Enjoying these smiles and other expressions is the plan for the weekend: a Duvet Day in bed together, relaxing, bonding and enjoying being a brand new family now Ellia is finally here!

See Caroline and Chace’s maternity photoshoot here.

If you’re interested in newborn portraits or family photography in and around Bicester, Oxfordshire, please get in contact.

Sarah Plater LMPA is an award-winning qualified, certified professional newborn and family portrait photographer based in Bicester, Oxfordshire. She is the Master Photographers Association Newborn Photographer of the Year 2019 for the Central Region (covering Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire).